Lanretta
by ShoePigeon
Summary: A story about Mr Snow's origins and Two brothers from Asia. Told from the POV of an OC that has been living in my head for years. Also a sprinkling of Hal. Enjoy :)


**Lanretta**

 _Ephemeris,_

 _Today has been a good one. Fai and I took a stroll along the West bank of the Tiber. We danced to the music of the street performers, ate food bought fresh from the market and made love secretly beneath the arches of the Circus Maximus, while the crowd watching the chariot races roared inside. I know I have said it often but although I have lived here my entire life, I never loved Rome until I met Fai._

 _I thought I would take a few moments before dusk to practice my writing. I am progressing, Fai has told me my hand is very nearly legible. I'm sure I will get better in time, and time is something I have so much of now._

 _The sun is setting. Fai is taking me out to hunt for sustenance._

 _Vale_

Lanretta stared at the miraculous little scroll in her hands. The papyrus would have been fine and expensive a long time ago but now she feared it would crumble if she held it too tightly. It was stained with age and the ink was fading slightly but it existed. Lanretta could not believe that it actually still existed.

"What have you found?" It was Hal's voice.

Hal. He'd started out as one of her many distractions. An ambitious little whelp who'd wanted to get close to Mr Snow and knew the best way of doing that was through her. When they had parted after a fun few weeks she had forgotten his name and what he looked like, just as she had done all the others. But then he did something that no one else had managed. He survived. Long enough for them to meet again. And again. And again. Now, approaching two and a half centuries old, he was only a few days away from becoming an Old One. Old. He didn't know the meaning of the word.

Hal strode up behind her and, planting a kiss on her shoulder, took the scroll from her hands.

"Careful!" she blurted, Hal squinted at the writing.

"This is Latin." He muttered "' _Ephemeris…'_ That means diary, does it not? Journal?"

Lanretta nodded. "It's mine. When he was teaching me to read and write Fai told me to keep a diary to practice."

"That explains the penmanship." Hal smirked but stopped Lanretta hit him on the arm.

"I was still learning." Taking the scroll from him she tenderly rolled it back up and placed it in the box from which she had found it. Standing up, she looked around the room. She and Hal had been fooling around, as usual, when they accidentally found themselves stumbling into Mr Snow's study. It was empty, and they'd felt daring so had resumed their activities up against one of his bookshelves. Only to discover that it was not only a bookshelf, but a concealed door. A door to a little dark room full of boxes of scrolls.

"Do you think this is all my diary? In all these boxes? There are hundreds of them. I've forgotten how long I wrote it for, in fact, I'd forgotten I'd written it at all."

"I don't know, perhaps." Hal replied, then added as Lanretta went to open another box, "but I'm beginning to think we shouldn't really be looking around in here."

"Why not? It's mine."

"I know, it is just that…" he moved a little closer, "I can think of other things I would rather be doing. Upstairs this time." She knew what he was doing, and it was working. She was powerless when he looked at her like that.

"Has anyone ever told you that you are insatiable?" She said, looking him straight in the eye.

"What's the matter, can't keep up?" He asked, completely closing the gap between them.

"Oh, I may be an old lady but I think you'll find that my stamina far exceeds yours." She smiled playfully.

"That sounds like a wager." Hal smirked and in a matter of moments they were chasing each other up the stairs to their room, taking care to shut the bookcase door behind them.

XXX

Lanretta knocked on the door then poked her head inside without waiting for a response. Her eyes did a quick sweep of the office and she breathed an inward sigh of relief that no signs of what she and Hal had got up to yesterday remained before turning her attention to the vampire sitting at the desk.

"Salve," she said cheerfully, moving towards the desk. Mr Snow smiled slightly at the use of their mother tongue, showing the tips of his blackened teeth. God she hoped she didn't look that bad, although he was only a few centuries her senior. She liked to think she looked after herself a little better than he.

"Salve," he replied, then placed his elbows on his desk and rested his chin on filthy fingers, waiting for what she wanted to say.

"Um…" she always felt like a child asking permission when taking to him. She didn't mind it though, she knew he worried and it made her feel safe. "I was thinking of taking Hal out for a walk in the city. See what's changed, see what's not changed. It's been so long since I've been here."

"Alright."

"I was wondering if you wanted to come with us."

"I am afraid I'm rather busy today," he gestured to the papers littering his desk. Lanretta sighed.

"We've been to so many amazing places over the years and yet you never seem to see anything outside of your chambers. There is a whole world out there."

"And I've already seen it."

"It has changed in the last millennia. Aren't you even just a little bit happy to be back home? I know I am."

"Rome is hardly my home."

"You were born here, you grew up here, isn't that the definition?" She asked. There was a pause.

"Was there anything else? Like I said, I have work."

"Actually, yes. I wanted to say thank you, for bringing us back here after all this time. You may not be glad to be back but I most certainly am. I know a lot of bad things happened in Rome but I have a lot of good memories too and I just wanted you to know how grateful I am."

A small, unreadable smile twitched at the corner of Mr Snow's cracked lips. "Noted. So are you taking Hal anywhere in particular or...?"

"Oh, nowhere really. Just thought we'd have a stroll along the Tiber, see the sights. I know the Colosseum wasn't here when I last was so that will be interesting and… oh, do you think that temple is still there? The one with the statues outside holding those huge trumpets. And when we were in the area you and Fai and I would get as close as we could to the temple and try and throw things into the trumpets. They were so high up, I always missed. And do you remember that time, when we had been out all night hunting and we were so drunk and Fai decided it would be a good idea to try and throw that dead man's arms into the trumpets. He missed by a mile but you got it straight in. I wonder if anyone found it... it could still be there. Oh where was that temple?"

"It was the Lares Permarini. In the Campus Martius."

"Yes, of course." Lanretta sighed, "We had fun, the three of us didn't we? Do you think it's still there?"

"Probably not."

"No, I suppose… Well, I should be going. Hal will be waiting."

"Be back by dusk and tell Hal I want to speak with him later." Lanretta nodded and left the room. She hadn't mentioned her discovery of the diaries to him. Something told her he wouldn't be best pleased if she did.

XXX

It was a good day. Lanretta and Hal walked along the bank of the Tiber, danced to the music of street performers, ate food fresh from the market stalls and had sex secretly beneath the arches of the Colosseum.

"We should get back," murmured Lanretta

"In a moment" replied Hal. They were lounging in an embrace on the floor at the side of the road, enjoying the sunset and each other's company. They looked like beggars in fine clothes.

"Mr Snow wanted me back by sunset. He wanted to speak to you too." That got Hal to sit up.

"Really? What about?"

Lanretta shrugged

"Fine," he sighed, getting to his feet.

"Hal…"

"Mmm?"

"I've been thinking a lot about those diaries we found last night. And I think I would like to go back and read some more."

"Retty..."

"Hal, you know how bad my memory gets. Those scrolls contain some of the best days of my life, days that are just fog to me now. I want those memories back. So I was thinking you could maybe get Mr Snow out of his office tonight? So I could go in and read some more. You could have your meeting in the garden or something, it's a nice night."

"You're not going to tell him you've found them?"

"Hal, please. I'd be so very grateful."

"Fine, I'll see what I can do but, for the record, I think you should tell him."

XXX

Lanretta took the time to examine the boxes a little more closely this time. They were made of lead, which she supposed helped preserved the scrolls, and numbered. The scroll she'd read the previous night had come from box II. She had looked in box I but had found the handwriting so terrible she had been ashamed to read it. She assumed they must be in chronological order and was proven right.

Hal must have been doing a good job at keeping Mr Snow away for she was able to read for hours. Hours and she had not even managed to make a dent in how much there was to read. And the memories just came flooding back. The places she had been to, the people she had known but most of all, Fai.

Before yesterday she hadn't even been able to remember what he looked like. She knew she had lost him a long time ago but how can you forget the face of the man who made you? But now, reading the stories of days long gone, slowly she remembered.

She remembered his long dark hair, dark eyes, those cheek bones… He was from the Orient, everyone thought he was so exotic. And intelligent, so intelligent, you could ask him any question and he could answer it. It was hardly surprising, he was already over a millennia old when first they met and wisdom comes with age. Although if you had ever heard him talk about his brother, you would think that saying was not entirely true.

They were twins, equal in age and appearance but different in everything else. Fai was calm, intelligent, he was a lover of art and nature, of beauty and life. Whereas Tai was a brute if there ever was one. So Lanretta had heard anyway, from Fai and from Mr Snow, for Tai was his creator, but he had been killed a long time before she was even born.

Fai had saved Lanretta. She had been a slave before they met, to a horrible man, she didn't like to think about it. Fai had bought her, freed her, offered her eternal life and asked for nothing in return. She gave him her love nonetheless.

He was a lover. And that was both his strength and his weakness. He would fall in love and give the object of his affections the world, literally. But none of them stayed. They always wanted more, and left him broken hearted. Lanretta had promised she would never leave him, but he had made no such vow in return. Reading these diaries brought back so many memories and yet… Oh her love, oh how she missed him. How could he go?

She fled to her room and cried herself to sleep.

XXX

Lanretta was distant with Hal the next day. They spoke only a little as they took breakfast together. She asked what his meeting with Mr Snow had been about, apparently Yelena and Frederic were being delayed on their journey from Spain meaning that Hal's ceremony would need to take place a few days later than planned. Hal asked how her evening's reading had been. She didn't answer.

XXX

 _Ephemeris,_

 _Today Fai and I had a late morning and spent a leisurely afternoon eating and reading in the garden. It was altogether a quiet and peaceful day. Nothing of note happened until this evening when we received a knock on the door._

 _The visitor was a tall man, pale, very pale, with red hair. His name is Albinus and he is like Fai and I. I have never met another creature such as us. I am not ignorant of their existence of course but it was nonetheless strange to find one standing on our doorstep after so many years of not meeting one. I have suspicions that Fai has been keeping me away from them._

 _As it turns out Albinus and Fai are old friends, they seem close. Albinus came to us with the hope of finding shelter, he has found himself down on his luck. Fai did not hesitate to invite him in. He seems nice but I am finding his familiarity with My Love a little uncomfortable._

 _It is late, I must sleep now. I will endeavour to discover more about Albinus in the morning._

 _Vale_

 _XXX_

 _Ephemeris,_

 _Albinus is also from Rome, I have learnt, although he is several hundred years older than myself. He must have been born in the early days of Rome. He is a descendant of Fai's brother. Apparently Tai was a lot less selective of those he gifted with eternal life so his descendants are not rare as Fai's._

 _I find the history of My Love and his brother most intriguing. Two brothers selling their souls for immortality then going off in completely different paths. I wonder if there are any differences between those descended from Fai and those from Tai._

 _I am finding Albinus a very interesting man, he brings with him many stories from so many far flung places. Places I can only dream of. He seems even more well traveled than Fai!_

 _There is something about him that does not quite seem right though. It's the way he is with Fai. I cannot put my finger upon it._

 _Vale_

 _XXX_

 _Ephemeris,_

 _I do not know what to think! I went out on my own for the day to go shopping for new dress fabrics. When I returned home I heard sounds coming from the triclinium. I entered the room to find my love and Albinus together. Together in bed. I can feel my still heart breaking, I do not know what to think._

 _I fled though Fai called after me. Perhaps I should speak with him._

 _Vale_

 _XXX_

 _Ephemeris,_

 _It has been a week since I saw what I saw._

 _I have spoken with Fai. He told me he and Albinus were lovers a long time ago but Albinus left him to travel the world._

 _He says he still loves Albinus._

 _He also says he still loves me._

 _I don't understand, is that possible? To love two people equally?_

 _Vale_

 _XXX_

Hal was pacing. A letter had arrived from Yelena and Fredrick that morning, they were one day away. The villa was all a bustle, preparations for the feast and ceremony were talking place everywhere, you couldn't move for servants polishing statues, straightening paintings, tying garlands of flowers to just about everything. It was making Hal nervous.

"What if something goes wrong? What if I mess up? Maybe I'm not supposed to be an Old One, maybe this is too soon."

Lanretta felt a jolt of guilt seeing him so stressed, she should be being more supportive. Every night since she had found the scrolls she had spent in the chamber, reading about the plays Fai used to take her to, and the feasts and the parties. Last night she had reached the moment Mr Snow had first walked into her life.

It had been her who had encouraged Hal towards Old One status in the first place and now she was being distant when he was so close. She had seen so many of the Old Ones nervous before their rituals, but it always went to plan.

"It will be fine," she said, standing in front of Hal so he could pace no longer. Slowly she eased his shirt open, lightly making little circles with her fingers on the newly exposed skin. His eyes flickered shut as he exhaled. She knew how to make him relax. "You have known Mr Snow for a long time," she continued, "he wants you for this, if he didn't think you were ready this wouldn't be happening."

"But what if-"

Hal didn't get to finish what he was saying however, Lanretta suddenly caught his mouth with hers in a fiery kiss. His shirt finally completely undone, she slid it off his shoulders. Strong arms pulled her closer as the kiss deepened.

 _XXX_

 _Ephemeris,_

 _I have just had the best night of my life. The three of us went out together. It was Albinus' idea. I was unwilling at first, my heart still hurting from what I had seen. Albinus said going out together would be a good way for us to get to know each other, all I wanted was for Albinus to go away so we could be like we were. But reluctantly I agreed to go out._

 _We started at a feast at the house of a friend of Fai's. The man was a banker and loved to impress his guests. We dined on sea food, There were oysters as big as my head, I had six, and our glasses never went empty. There were acrobats and singers but the real entertainment was Albinus who regaled us with tales of his travels in the West and of the Barbarians of Gaul and Briton._

 _We left early, Albinus had heard about a party on the outskirts of the city, we borrowed horses from our host and rode out at full speed. There was a bonfire and music and of course more wine, everyone was dancing. We lost ourselves. On the way back we finally indulged in blood and all was spinning by the time we returned to the villa. We slept straight away. But today, still giddy from the night before, the three of us have spent the entire day in bed together. I've experienced sensations I didn't think possible. I have never seen Fai more happy. It is like there was something missing in my relationship with Fai, although I didn't know of it, but now Albinus is here all is more perfect than I ever thought it could be._

 _Vale_

 _XXX_

"I love you," she breathed, afterwards. Hal paused.

"You've never said that before."

"I know," she replied. Hal had said it years ago but she had never responded, to do so would be a betrayal to Fai. But now… "Being back in Rome… the diaries, it has been making me think. Fai didn't give me eternal life so I could spend it being miserable. I've mourned him for too long, he wouldn't want that, he'd want me to be happy. My time spent with you has been some of the happiest I can remember. I love you Hal. I love you."

They were quiet for a moment, staring at each other as if nothing existed outside of each other's eyes. Then Hal spoke

"Come back to England with me."

"What?"

"After the ceremony, come home with me."

"We can't, were going to Greece for a couple of months and then on to Egypt, I haven't seen The Sphinx since-"

"I don't mean with Mr Snow. I mean just the two of us."

Lanretta laughed. "You want me to leave Mr Snow? I can't."

"Why not?"

"Do you have any idea how long we've been together?"

"He doesn't own you, Retty."

"Of course he doesn't. What on earth makes you say that?"

"You have to ask permission to go out for the day, you follow him around the world, you're afraid to go into his office without him knowing. It's like you're his pet or something." Lanretta felt like she's been slapped

"H-How dare you, you don't know what you're talking about." She got out of bed, fetching her dress from the floor and pulled it on angrily. This was moving too fast. Lanretta loved Hal with all her heart but she had never spent more than a few months with him at a time, with gaps lasting years in-between. She had been with Albinus forever, the idea of leaving him frightened her. "After we lost Fai he looked after me, and I him. We've had a lot of good times and we've been through a lot of shit. We've got each other out of more tight corners than you can count and all this?" she gestured to the enormous villa full of servants around them, knowing that Hal knew how many others like it they had around the world. "We had to fight for this, we were born with nothing. We fought for it together. One day we lost it all and we had to fight a hundred times harder to get it all back again. Together." Of course it was all in Mr Snow's name, Lanretta didn't like the responsibility of it all.

"You can still see him, for Christ's sake, I'll be an Old One, we'll be seeing him all the time. You just said you loved me."

"I do, but… can't we just stay as we are? Why do you need me to come with you? You're something special in England Hal, I bet the women there are crawling over each other for a chance to be with you."

"I don't want them, I want you."

"Well you can't have me. Not like that." She strode towards the door.

"Where are you going?" Hal asked, she didn't answer but left the room. "You're going to read those fucking scrolls again, aren't you?" she heard him shout.

But Lanretta didn't go to Mr Snows office. She needed to get out of this building, to get some space, she went out into the city.

She had never had an argument like that with Hal before, they'd never spent enough time together to argue. The time they did spend together was always so precious. Now, when she had finally admitted her feelings, they had fought. She didn't know why leaving Mr Snow frightened her so, only that he was all she had known for so long, she made her feel safe. Hal had called her Mr Snow's pet, how dare he! Angrily she kept walking, she didn't know where she was, she didn't care. Fuck Hal, he would be nothing without her. Why should she go running to where he was? He should be the one running to her.

She was in a field. She looked around, her feet ached, she must have walked for miles. Ahead a huge dark shadow loomed against the setting sun. Curiously she moved closer. It was a huge cylindrical building, must have been over sixty feet high, set into a mound of earth and surrounded by trees. Lanretta definitely felt as if she had been there before. A strange feeling of dread crippled her insides as she walked closer. She didn't understand, she couldn't remember ever being here before. In one of the field's next to the path she saw a farmer at work.

"Buonasera," she called "what do you know of this building?"

"That's Il Mausoleo di Cecilia Metella, Signorina"

"A tomb?" Lanretta took a step towards it, the familiarity drawing her closer.

"I wouldn't do that," said the farmer. "They say it's haunted. Long time ago they used to hear a woman's screams in there. Coming from underneath the ground." The farmer went back to his work but Lanretta was more curious still. There was a ghost in there? Perhaps it was ghost of her own creation and that's how she knew the place. If she had been drunk enough at the time she wouldn't remember feeding here. She went inside.

Instantly she keeled over. Her dead heart was racing, her head hurt, her hands were shaking. She couldn't breathe, she couldn't see. No, she could see but it was dark, too dark. Her hands were chained. No! He wouldn't do this!

She opened her eyes. A gentle breeze rustled the leaves of the trees outside. The last rays of sun made the grey stone of the tomb shine like gold. What had just happened? She breathed in great gulps of air, calming herself, telling herself that what she had felt wasn't real. She had definitely been here before though, she knew that much. But what the hell had happened? Bravely she moved further into the room, looking around while she still had light. She examined every brick in the tower and the side building, looking for some clue of what had happened to her here before. She found none.

She went outside, examined the road and the trees. She circumnavigated the huge structure three times, she was about to give up when she saw it. There in the lava stone foundations of the tomb, so overgrown with moss and ivy that it was not surprising she hadn't spotted it sooner: the entrance to a tunnel. A large boulder was blocking the way. It looked like it was originally placed there to conceal the entrance but had not been put back in its proper position. There was a gap that looked just big enough for Lanretta to fit through. She took a deep breath, she was shaking again, this was definitely the place. Something had happened to her in there. She needed to know.

It wasn't until she was a good few yards into the tunnel that she stared to think this was a bad idea. She didn't know how long the tunnel went on for, what if there were wild animals in there? Or it could be unstable and cave in. It was nearly night when she was outside, in here there was hardly any light. Perhaps it was a labyrinth, what if she got lost and trapped in here forever.

Trapped in here forever.

She started to panic, her head hurt, she couldn't see anything. Desperately she ran in the direction she thought was out. She tripped on the uneven flagstone floor and fell with a yell. The yell echoed in the narrow space, it echoed until it seemed there was a thousand voices around her. A thousand voices and yet she was all alone. All alone and never getting out.

"Never getting out" she gasped, her head was killing her. "Never getting out." Before she lost consciousness her gaze fell on the outline of a large cruel iron door.

"Never getting out…"

XXX

 _Footsteps. Twenty-two of them. Drowned out by the sound of the trolley on the uneven flagstone floor. Metal clinks on metal._

 _The iron door creeks open._

 _Light._

 _What's on the trolley today?_

 _Brace._

 _Stab, slash, punch, bruise. Swear. Slap. Stab, bleed._

 _Cut, choke, fuck, bleed. Cry._

 _Breathe._

 _Feed. Only a mouthful, not enough._

 _Brace_

 _Burn. Scream. Scream. Scream. Beg._

 _Stab._

 _The iron door swings shut. Darkness._

 _The trolley goes away. Twenty-two footsteps._

 _Alone. Never getting out._

 _Beg. Scream. Cry._

XXX

Lanretta awoke to the smell of baking bread. She sat up, getting her bearings. She was laying on a thin straw mattress in a small stone shack. The building was basic but clean and well loved. She wondered how she had got here. The last thing she remembered was falling over in that tunnel… she shuddered.

"Ah Signorina, you are awake." Lanretta spun around, the farmer she had spoken to last night was standing in the doorway.

"You," she said. "You got me out of that cave?"

"My name is Antonio, and I told you not to go near that place," he sighed, taking a seat on the stool next to the bed. "I heard you shout, what did you see?"

She shook her head "Nothing, I think it was just my imagination running away with me." She searched in the folds of her gown for her money pouch. She pressed into Antonio's hand, amazed that he had not already stolen it while she was sleeping. "Thank you for getting me out of there," she said.

Curiously he opened the pouch and peered inside. His eyes widened and his bushy eyebrows shot so high that they disappeared into his grey flyaway hair. It was clearly more gold than he had ever seen before.

"Signorina, it's too much," he offered the pouch back to her but she closed his hand around it.

"It is nothing," she said. "I am very grateful." He smiled.

"You will stay for breakfast," he announced. "My wife, she makes the best farinata in all of Rome."

XXX

Antonio took her back into the city on his cart. As soon she recognised where they were she thanked him and bid him arrivederci. The sooner she got away from him the better, she had realised on the journey how long it had been since she last fed. Draining him dry would be a poor way of thanking him for his kindness.

Striding through the doors of the villa she asked the first servant she saw to have a decanter and hot water for a bath brought to her chamber, then headed upstairs. Thankfully, she didn't bump into Hal.

Lanretta sank into the steaming depths of the bath and felt the aches from her walk and fall yesterday fade away. Finally she felt safe enough to let her mind wander back to the tomb and all that she had seen. Clearly something had happened to her there but she couldn't remember it at all. Her memory had been bad for a while but she had thought that was just her age, not enough room in her head for it all. She could never have forgotten something as horrific as that dream.

The dream. Could it have been real? It was terrifying. So dark… so alone… she couldn't breathe…

She couldn't breathe.

Hands grabbed her under her arms and pulled her up. She struggled but the arms wrapped around her chest, she fought, the arms constricted. She coughed up water. The arms went away. Lanretta looked around, she was naked on the floor by her bath tub. The floor was soaking wet, as was a frightened looking maid servant, with fresh scratches on her face and neck.

"Forgive me, Signorina," she stammered, "you were under the water."

"No, forgive me, I don't know what happened." Lanretta panted, she must have passed out again.

"Signorina, Signor Snow requests your presence at dinner tonight."

"Yes, of course, tell him I shall be there."

"Signorina, dinner is in half an hour." Lanretta looked up, surprised, how long had she been out? "Would you like me to help you dress?" Asked the girl.

"Yes, please."

XXX

She had hoped dinner would be a private one but it was not. Yelena and Frederic had finally arrived. All of the Old Ones were gathered in the banqueting hall, along with Hal. He looked at her when she entered the room and took her seat next to Mr Snow but said nothing.

Lanretta managed to get through the first two courses without having to speak to anyone. These old fools couldn't resist a good gossip when they got together. Edgar and Jacob were discussing the unrest in France and what may come of it, meanwhile Yelena was telling all who would listen about the five hundred acre estate she had recently inherited from an unfortunately diseased husband. Lanretta hardly listened, her mind kept wandering back to the cave, then she had to shake herself out of it, for fear she would pass out again. All she wanted was to go back to her room and sleep but she feared that too. She drank three times as much wine as she usually would, in the hope that when she finally got to bed she would have a dreamless sleep.

It wasn't until dessert that Lanretta was brought into the conversation.

"Hal and I missed you at supper last night," said Mr Snow. "We waited."

"My apologies," mumbled Lanretta, "I went out."

"Oh really? Where?" He asked conversationally.

"Just walking. I didn't realise I needed to keep you constantly informed of my whereabouts," she snapped. She regretted it as soon as she spoke, it was the wine talking. That and insecurities about what Hal had said to her yesterday. Everyone at the table turned to face them, no one spoke to Mr Snow like that.

"Of course not," he said, slowly and calmly, "but Rome is a dangerous city with a lot of bad memories for you. I merely care for your safety." He laid a dirty fingernailed hand on her arm as he spoke. Lanretta felt a chill run through her, like every cell in her body was screaming. She looked from his hand up into his eyes. She stared into their cold grey depths for a full minute before snatching her arm away and leaving the room as quickly as she could.

XXX

Curled in to the foetal position on the bed Lanretta grasped at her head. What was happening to her? First the dreams and now she couldn't bare Mr Snow's touch? And when she looked into his eyes she had seen something that had never been there before. She couldn't place it.

The door opened, Hal came in.

"Good evening," he said. He seemed nervous to approach her. She sat up, making room for him on the bed, he sat down next to her. "Why is the floor wet?"

She laughed, she'd forgotten about that. "I spilt my bath everywhere."

"Well done," he smiled. "We'll have to get someone to dry the rug tomorrow or it will rot."

"Yes, I suppose so."

"Retty, I'm sorry about yesterday. I was angry when you said no to England and I said some things I shouldn't have."

"I'm sorry too," she said quietly.

He sighed, "what is going on with you, Retty? Please talk to me." She said nothing. "Is it the scrolls? Are they what have caused this?"

"Maybe... I don't know," she muttered. He sighed again, then started kissing her neck. "Hal, what are you doing?"

"Making you feel better," he murmured. He hitched her skirt up and began moving his hand up her leg, along her inner thigh. Lanretta felt a rising panic.

"Hal stop!" She jumped off the bed and out of his reach.

"What have I done now?"

"Nothing," she breathed, relieved that he'd stopped. "I just don't want to be touched at the moment. It's fine, I'll sleep on the chair."

"Lanretta, something is wrong with you and you need to tell Mr Snow about it."

"One moment you say I'm his pet then the next you tell me to run to him with all my problems."

"If you don't tell him I will."

"No, Hal please don't."

"Why not?"

"I don't feel like I can trust him right now," she whispered, the admission frightening her. "I can't explain it."

Hal groaned and rolled back onto the bed. "I give up. I'm going to sleep."

XXX

 _Darkness._

 _Ragged breathing, the occasional clink of chain on concrete, a heartbeat every minute._

 _The only sounds._

 _He wasn't coming back this time. It had been too long. It must have been._

 _Wait._

 _The trolley on the flagstones._

 _Twenty-two footsteps._

 _The door swings open._

 _The trolley on the flagstones._

 _Clink , clink, clink._

 _Punch, choke._

"Lanretta stop!"

 _Punch, choke._

"Lanretta!"

She opened her eyes and found herself face to face with the maidservant with scratches on her face. She was now sporting a fresh black eye to match those scratches. Lanretta had to poor girl pinned up against the wall by the throat.

"Let her go." Lanretta looked around, Hal was behind her, a bruise was forming on his jaw. She relaxed her fingers on the girl's neck. As soon as she could the maid scurried out of the room without saying a word.

"What happened?" Lanretta whispered.

"You tell me," Hal exclaimed. "She brought in our breakfast and you attacked her!"

"Breakfast?" Lanretta looked around, sure enough there was a little brass trolley in the room, fully laden with plates and teacups. _Clink, clink, clink._

 _"_ What is wrong with you?! Actually, I don't care. I have my ritual today, I can't deal with this."

"Your ritual?"

"You'd forgotten, hadn't you? Of course you had." He pulled on his clothes, grabbed a piece of toast and a cup of coffee from the trolley and left the room, slamming the door as he did.

Lanretta sat on the bed, trying to comprehend what was happening to her. Then she had an idea. Hal's ritual. Everyone will be in the banqueting hall all day. Whatever it was that happened to her that is causing all this madness has to be in the diaries. She would read all day if she had to, she was going to find out what it was.

XXX

She read furiously, tossing aside anything that looked like a mushy story about a picnic in the park, or a blow by blow account of how amazing the sex had been the night before. Box XI, XII, XIII… Box XXIV, XXV, XXVI… all the same, there had to be something somewhere. Finally, in box LIV, she found it.

 _Ephemeris,_

 _I have not written in a while. I have good reason. A year ago something terrible happened and it has taken me this long to come to terms with it enough to write. I fear I will never completely recover. I am still in shock._

 _Fai is dead._

 _There. I said it. My Love has been killed. He's gone. But that is not the worst part. I shall tell the story, the details of which are branded onto my heart._

 _Fai and I had gone out to see a play. Albinus had stayed home, He said he wanted to give us some time alone together. I was grateful._

 _When we returned home we knew something was wrong. The door was wide open, the servants nowhere to be seen. Fai told me to stay outside but I would not leave him. Eventually he persuaded me to wait by the door but as soon as he was inside he shut and locked it behind him. I went to the nearest window to see what was happening. By the time I got there Fai was no longer alone in the building, Albinus was there._

 _"_ _What are you doing?" asked Fai, his voice calm._

 _"_ _Oh you already know," smirked Albinus "you just haven't admitted it to yourself yet."_

 _Fai nodded sadly. "That's for me I take it," he said, pointing to something in Albinus' hand. He lifted it up, I could see it was a stake._

 _"_ _You and your little slave."_

 _"_ _Don't call her that."_

 _"_ _Where is she? She can't be far, she follows you around like a puppy."_

 _"_ _Why are you doing this?"_

 _"_ _Because being the oldest creature on this earth is wasted on you. You don't use it, you just exist. I should be the one from whom all vampires are descended." He proclaimed._

 _"_ _What are you going to do? Kill every vampire you didn't sire? Impossible."_

 _"_ _Oh but I've already done it. You helped me start all those years ago by killing Tai. Now all that is left is you and her. Tell me where she is. She's hardly a threat, I might spare her."_

 _"_ _No you wont." Fai laughed. "I'm afraid you're just going to have to kill me. You're just like Tai, you don't care about anyone but yourself."_

 _"_ _I am so much better than him!" roared Albinus and he strode forward and plunged his stake into My Love's beautiful heart. And then I couldn't keep quiet any longer. I screamed. Albinus saw me. If he hadn't have had to unlock the door then I too would have crumbled to dust that night. Sometimes I wish I had._

 _I fled. I haven't stopped running since. But I can never escape my guilt. I should have done something. I should have stopped it._

 _Vale_

Lanretta's world crumbled around her. Albinus killed Fai. She had spent the last fifteen hundred years with someone who had lied to her. She'd trusted him, she'd saved his life more times than she could count. She felt empty.

XXX

Hal was smiling when he opened the door to the bed chamber. Of course, the ceremony, thought Lanretta.

"How did it go?" she asked.

"Very well," he responded. "I can feel the power flowing through me already, I've never felt better."

"That's good." She smiled, "I'm happy for you."

"Are you alright?" he asked.

"I'm fine." Suddenly she rushed towards him, grabbing his hands. "Let's run away, Hal. Just like you said, back to England, just the two of us."

"Why the sudden change of heart?" Hal laughed.

"I just think it's time for a change," she smiled. "Do you still want to?"

"Of course."

Lanretta kissed him. "Good. Fantastic." She looked around the room. "We should pack then."

"Wait, you want to go now?" Lanretta nodded. "We can't. I'm an Old One now, I have responsibilities. I have an important meeting to attend tomorrow. We can leave in a week." A week? She couldn't stay in the same building as that monster for a week. Lanretta wrung her hands and shifted her weight from foot to foot. "Listen, there's something I have to tell you," said Hal, holding her shoulders to make her stand still. "I told Mr Snow about the scrolls, and about your night terrors, and about everything that has been happening."

"You did what?" Lanretta felt sick.

"No, it's okay, he said it's happened to you before, it's why your memory is so bad. It's the reason he brought you out of Rome in the first place. Don't you see? Your brain just can't cope with everything that has happened to you, you're too fragile. It's completely normal."

"Fragile?!" Lanretta exclaimed. "You don't know what you've done. He's going to kill me. He's going to kill me. Oh God, I have to get out of here."

She made a dash for the door. Ignoring Hal calling after her she charged down the corridor, leapt down stairs three steps at a time until… Wham! She came face to face with the cold grey eyes of Albinus. She turned on her heel and ran back up the stairs. Up, up she climbed, she just needed to get away from him. She ran until she hit a dead end.

Lanretta leaned over the balcony and looked down. Five stories up, solid stone floor below, she could survive that. If she didn't get too injured and started running straight away then she'd have a pretty good head start. If she didn't get too injured. She could hear Albinus' voice down the corridor, it was now or never.

She jumped.

XXX

"Well, that was intelligent."

Lanretta opened her eyes. Everything hurt. She was slumped in one of the wing backed chairs by the desk in Mr Snow's study. He was sat at the desk looking at her over steepled fingers.

"I counted four, maybe five, broken ribs, fractured pelvis, punctured lung, shattered humerus…" He stood up, walked around his desk with an air of smugness. A smile played at his lips as he poured a goblet of blood from a decanter and offered it to her. It wasn't the tired or sarcastic smile she was used to seeing from him, this was real. There was something youthful about it, he seemed almost excited about something. She stared at the proffered drink. "You need to heal Lanretta, not to take this would be idiotic." She went to reach for it but her arms wouldn't work, too damaged from the fall. She moaned, this was agony.

Mr Snow smiled even more when he noticed her predicament, leaning down he cupped the back of her neck and lifted her head so she could drink. She stared at him with loathing eyes as she did so. Lanretta did not have suffer this indignity for long. The blood was fresh, the donor had been young and strong, in seconds she could feel its warmth spreading throughout her ancient body and easing her pain. The next glass he offered she snatched from his grip.

While she drained the rest of the decanter Albinus made his way back to his seat behind the desk. He leaned back watching her, waiting. She knew what he was waiting for, her to start the conversation. The blood had helped her earlier terror to thaw and a flame of rage glimmered in its place.

"You killed Fai."

"Yes I did." He smirked.

"He loved you" Lanretta's voice quivered.

"That fool would fall in love with anyone that looked at him"

"He was a romantic."

"And look at where it got him. I few passionate kisses and whispered nothings and he killed his brother for me, he let me under his roof, let down his guard, he let me kill him."

"You didn't have to!" Lanretta had to squeeze her eyes shut to stop emotion overcoming her. "You could have let us go. We could have run away, somewhere remote. We wouldn't have interfered with what you were doing."

"And once again you prove how little you really know him," said Mr Snow, leaning back in his chair. "He would have felt compelled to do something. He would have seen me as his responsibility. He would have tried to save me. I couldn't have a vampire left alive that wasn't under my control."

"Then why am I still here?!" She shouted.

He frowned at her. "You've not read all of the scrolls, have you?"

"No, when I found out you killed our lover it kind of distracted my focus from the rest of the story." She snapped.

"Oh, but my dear," He smilled a slow, black toothed smile. "You've missed the best part."

"Why? What happened?" Albinus' eyes lit up and his rotten grin widened.

"You became magnificent." He stood up suddenly and crossed to the bookshelf concealing the room of scrolls. Lanretta watched him, bewildered. "When I first met you I thought 'What on earth has Fai wasted this gift on now?' And I thought that for a very long time. After Fai's death you ran away. I did go looking for you for a while but I was far too distracted with recruiting my army; and I figured you'd have just curled up in a ball and died somewhere without your precious love. You were no threat. I underestimated you." He pushed on the book that opened the secret door and went into the chamber. He continued speaking from inside.

"Nearly a quarter century later I had a rather impressive army on my hands. I owned half of the Italian peninsula without anyone but my kind actually knowing. My recruits, however, had grown fat and lazy with no-one to fight. They spent their days whoring and feeding. I recruited like my maker, in vast numbers and with little strategy in my selection. Perhaps that was a mistake, but I was young and enjoying power." He returned from the room with two boxes. Box CXIII and Box DXLIV. He set them on the table in front of her.

"One day my army was felt deathly blow." He continued "Midday, exactly 25 years after Fai's death, a series of seven strategic but brutal attacks were carried out on pockets of my men scattered throughout Rome. The next day, seven more. And then again. For 5 days. I lost two thousand men in a week without even having a battle. We didn't know what was happening, or what to expect next. Survivors would run to the next meeting point but then that was hit too. Rome was in disarray."

"What happened?"

"You did." He whispered, his eyes glinting. Flipping open the lid of the first box he removed a scroll and offered it to her. Curiously, she read.

 _Ephemeris,_

 _The war has begun._

 _Today the last set of attacks were carried out. We've hit every known meeting location of Albinus' men. I thank whatever God lead me to meet Lieutenant Aquila. Recruiting him has proved invaluable. Without his knowledge and experience in battle strategy I could not have done this._

 _Putting Nerva and the other Gladiators in command of each of the units was inspired. Their brutality and lust for the fight encouraged my other men. Making them an unstoppable force._

 _And my girls. My Scorta erratica. My Ladies of the night. Always listening to their clients, always relaying the information back to me._

 _I have been planing for this moment for so long and yet it is only the beginning. Albinus will be regrouping and recruiting, this is going to be a long war. Fai my love, I will avenge you._

 _Vale_

Lanretta looked up from the scroll. She couldn't believe she had written it, she couldn't remember it at all.

"Don't you see what you did?" Said Mr Snow excitedly. "You didn't recruit in vast numbers like I did, you recruited selectively, strategically. Gladiators, soldiers, the very whores that my men were wasting their time on. And you offered this life to them, they saw it as a gift, not a curse, which made them loyal to you. Each of your men was worth a hundred of mine. Fortunately I outnumbered you far more than a hundred to one.

"It took me a long time to learn who was behind it all. I discovered one of your spies in my ranks, tortured him for weeks until he gave me your name. I couldn't believe it.

"Our war raged for over a century. Sometimes you had the upper hand, sometimes I did. Sometimes our armies battled in the fields, others there would be secret assassinations. You were the greatest foe I ever faced, no one has ever compared. I still miss it sometimes."

Lanretta shook her head. "No. No, I cant remember any of this. How could I just forget fighting a century long war against you? It doesn't make any sense."

"Aah," He smiled, "but the story is not yet finished. You see, you lost in the end. Compassion was your downfall, you cared too much for your recruits, didn't want them to die. I captured you. And I made you watch as I burned each and every one of them." He had his eyes closed when he said this, tasted each word with his tongue as if it was the most delicious thing he had ever had in his mouth "You had a lover, the Lieutenant. You didn't cry when he burned, you didn't have any tears left.

"After that I took you to a special chamber I'd had made up just for you, my honoured guest."

 _She couldn't breathe, she couldn't see. No, she could see but it was dark, too dark. Her hands were chained. No! He wouldn't do this!_

"Il Mausoleo di Cecilia Metella." She whispered. Suddenly the room went cold, she knew what the dreams were.

"You remember it?" He beamed.

"I went there by accident two days ago." She said numbly.

"We had so much fun down there."

 _The trolley on the flagstones._

 _Twenty-two footsteps._

 _The door swings open._

 _The trolley on the flagstones._

"Th-There was a sound." She stammered "A trolly, on the stone floor."

"My tray of tricks." He was looking at her with hungry eyes, absorbing every detail of her fear.

 _What's on the trolley today?_

 _Brace._

 _Stab, slash, punch, bruise. Swear. Slap. Stab, bleed._

 _Punch, choke._

"No!"

 _Cut, choke, fuck, bleed. Cry._

 _Breathe._

 _Feed. Only a mouthful, not enough._

 _Brace_

 _Burn. Scream. Scream. Scream. Beg._

 _"_ No, Please!"

 _Stab._

 _The iron door swings shut. Darkness._

 _The trolley goes away. Twenty-two footsteps._

 _Alone. Never getting out._

 _Beg. Scream. Cry._

 _"_ Please…"

 _Darkness._

 _Ragged breathing, the occasional clink of chain on concrete, a heartbeat every minute._

 _The only sounds._

 _He wasn't coming back this time. It had been too long. It must have been._

"Come back!" A harsh slap to the face and a thorough shake of the shoulders and Lanretta returned. Shaking, she tried to wiggle out of his grip. One hand was on her shoulder, the other on her face. He was touching her, she hated it. It made her feel sick. He released her, then held up his hands to show that he had. "Don't go breaking on me yet," he said teasingly, "I've still got so much more to say."

"Y-you left me." She managed finally. "You went away and you never came back. You left."

"What can I say? I got bored of you. I had things to do, a world to conquer. I went overseas and quite forgot about you if I'm honest."

"How long?" Lanretta braced herself, dreading the answer. "How long until you came back? I don't remember getting out."

Albinus leaned back, thinking. "Two or three hundred years, maybe more, I forget." Lanretta couldn't breathe. "I was back in the area one day," he continued, "and thought: 'hang on a moment, didn't I leave something here last time?'"

"I dug you up, not knowing what to expect, no vampire I knew of had ever been left that long without blood before. I thought you'd be dead, for a while I thought you were. It took several baths of blood to revive you. And once you finally regained consciousness do you know what the first thing you did was?" Lanretta shook her head. "You embraced me. You couldn't remember a thing after the day before Fai died. I think, on top of everything you had suffered, the tomb was too much for you. You retreated within yourself to a time when you'd felt most happy, which just happened to be a time when you completely trusted, even loved me." Lanretta took it in, processed it, it made sense. "I told you all about how Fai had left us for a whore and been killed by her. I broke your heart all over again, you were miserable enough to make me happy."

"So then you just kept me around?" She spat, remembering Hal's words, "Like a pet?"

"I would say more like a trophy, the only thing left around to remind me of where I started, how far I have come."

"Surely it would have been easier to just kill me when I lost the war?"

"But death would be far too merciful an end for such a worthy rival. You had to suffer forever at my hand. Although I won't deny you had your uses over the years, got us out of one or two tight spots."

She looked up into his hideous grin, he was enjoying this too much. He'd been waiting years to say all this, to see the look on her face when he did. And then it clicked.

"You brought us back here on purpose didn't you? For this very reason. I didn't stumble across those scrolls by accident, this was all part of your plan"

"Clever girl."

"Why now?" She shouted "What's changed?" She had a horrible feeling that the final punchline was yet to come. He'd told her not to break on him yet, she dreaded that something worth breaking for was on its way.

"I said that my greatest foe deserved to suffer forever at my hand." He said slowly "And you have, even without the torture, or being left in that tomb, you've been mourning Fai for over two millennia. But in recent years that's changed hasn't it? Lately you've not been miserable at all."

Albinus tenderly slid the lid off the second box he had removed from the secret room.

"This is my favourite," he whispered.

Lanretta looked inside, dreading. There was but a single scroll.

 _Ephemeris,_

 _The war is long and all but lost. I grow weary while Albinus grows stronger; he's enjoying this, thriving in the battle against me. My men are tired and injured. I long for this to be over._

 _But I have a plan._

 _Long ago Fai told me of how he and his brother became vampires. I know the ritual for summoning the devil. Aquila is currently preparing my adjoining chamber. I will carry out the ritual and I will beg the devil for help._

 _I did not want to do this, it is a last resort._

 _I will have Aquila transcribe below._

 _Vale_

 _Lanretta pours the cup of her blood onto the symbol carved into the floor and speaks the words of summoning._

 _The flames of the torches grow wild._

 _A mist, thicker than smoke, blacker than night seeps in trough the walls._

 _It swirls around the room, seems to be getting its bearings._

 ** _Lanretta:_** _Great Azazel. My name is Lanretta, I am a vampire sired by Fai of Shenzhou. I have summoned you to request-_

 ** _Voice:_** _I remember Fai._

 _The voice is deep, it seems not to come from one place but from the walls, the ground, the very air. It even feels like it came from deep within myself. The age of it seems to seep into everything, the chamber feels darker, almost rotten._

 ** _Lanretta:_** _He did tell me he once summoned you for help._

 ** _Voice:_** _He wanted me to save the life of a woman he loved, she was dying. I took his soul and the soul of his brother who was listening outside the door. I made them my creatures and educated them on how to give others to me. He saved the girl but she killed herself when she realised she could no longer gaze at her own reflection. Vain that one, only in love with herself._

 ** _Lanretta_** ** _:_** _Fai and Tai are both gone now._

 ** _Voice:_** _They are._

 ** _Lanretta_** ** _:_** _Have they gone back to you?_

 ** _Voice:_** _I only have the souls while the bodies walk the earth. Now they are in a place where I have no jurisdiction. They will not come back. Was that your request?_

 ** _Lanretta:_** _No I… no. My request is this: I am currently fighting a war of vengeance against the man who took Fai and Tai from this earth. Please, I beseech you, give me some kind of power or wisdom that will help me defeat him._

 ** _Voice:_** _And what am I to have in return? I already possess your soul…_

 ** _Lanretta_** ** _:_** _Anything._

 ** _Voice:_** _Hmmm…. You will owe me a favour, one that I will call in one day. Do we have a deal?_

 ** _Lanretta:_** _Yes._

 ** _Voice:_** _Then I will give you the wisdom of how to make your army the most powerful force the world has seen._

 _The bond between yourself and those whom have your blood running through them is already a strong one, but you must make it stronger. Have them drink your blood again and you theirs, with the correct ceremony: a circle of salt connecting you to them will suffice along with any words you deem appropriate._

 _Then you will own them, heart and mind. There will be nothing you can ask of them that they will be able to refuse._

 ** _Lanretta:_** _And that will make my army strong enough to defeat Albinus'?_

 ** _Voice:_** _His army is large but he is yet to learn how to control them. He currently insights loyalty using fear, but fear has the unfortunate side affect of creating hatred. Do as I say and you will have the power for victory. I grow tired now, I will leave you._

 _The mist is gone, the torches dim. It's over._

"When the war was finally lost," continued Mr Snow, when he saw she had finished, "and you received word that I was coming for you, instead of fleeing you summoned two of your most trusted remaining followers. The first you ordered to stake you, and the second you ordered to go to your hall of scrolls and ensure your diary was burned, particularly this scroll. Fortunately I arrived in time to stop either of those things happening.

"I was curious to see what was so important it must be kept from me. So I read every last scroll and when I came across this one, you impressed me once more.

"A deal with the devil just to defeat me. I was flattered. You still lost because you wasted such a wondrous gift. You had ultimate power over your recruits and yet you asked them to do things they would have done for you anyway.

"You should have told them to crawl through hell for you!" He stood suddenly, almost shouting "To suffer a thousand years of torture for you! To go to the ends of the earth! If you had told them to do that then you would have won. But you didn't. Your compassion got in the way, you didn't want them to die. They died anyway.

If there is one thing that frustrates me, it is people who waste gifts that I could put to so much better use. _I_ didn't waste the gift you had been given." He composed himself, and sat down again. "I used it in the most ingenious way possible if I do say so myself. Let us see if you can figure it out."

Lanretta blinked, still shocked by his outburst, she had no idea. She had never seen Mr Snow perform a ritual before except-

"The Old Ones."

He smiled, waited for her to continue.

"You find vampires with age, ambition, power, anyone you feel has even the slightest chance of becoming a threat, of doing what you did to Fai and Tai, and you enslave them to you."

"You have to admit it's rather cunning." He declared, Lanretta shook her head.

"But they _want_ the title, they kill for it. They think it's a prize. It's a con."

"Not entirely a con," he mused, "it makes them stronger. There's a lot of power in shared blood, if one of us learns a new trick, getting through doors and not feeling crucifixes for example, then once the ritual is complete we all learn it…

But Lanretta wasn't listening, something had just clicked. The punchline to Mr Snow's horrible joke.

"Hal's an Old One now." Lanretta's heart was gone. There was nothing left. Mr Snow owned Hal. Hal was the pet. And…"Oh God, I encouraged him!"

"I've been waiting to do it for years but I had to wait for him to be old enough to make it believable and I wanted to let you fall deeply in love, I knew it would make this day even more delicious." Her mind was working frantically, like a fish out of water, flailing helplessly. She was going to be sick, but no, she couldn't, she was frozen. No she was drowning, and there was no lifeline, no running back to England with Hal, she couldn't trust him now, there was no way out, no forward, she was completely at his mercy, he was still talking, why was he still talking? Did he not know he had already won?

"I've yet to decide what to do with my new toy. I could have him kill you, or himself, but no that's too obvious. Oh I could have him flay you, that could be interesting…"

No, there was a way out. The only way there has ever been. Into the abyss. She lunged for the ceremonial stake he kept on the mantle. She had to end it all. He noticed her though, grabbed her leg. She fell, the stake clattered to the floor, one moment she seemed victorious, the next it was him, he was stronger than her but she was desperate: their century long war summed up in thirty seconds. He kneed her in her freshly healed ribs, she gasped. Now he was on top, the point of the stake resting on her pounding chest. "Do it!" she yelled, "You've won, just do it."

And then he laughed. She watched helplessly as he threw the stake into the fire. The old wood crackled up in an instant. She watched until there was nothing left.

Albinus stood up, smoothed his clothes and returned to his chair.

"Well," he said, "what shall we do now?"

But Lanretta wasn't listening.

When the last ember of the stake turned to ash she was gone.


End file.
